My Meant To Be
by greymind
Summary: A future fic with Cristina and Burke. Final chapter is up now. Enjoy it!
1. Chapter 1

Making his way through the empty halls of Seattle Grace, Preston Burke feels more determined with every step. It's close to 5am and he is there to meet up with Cristina, actually to surprise Cristina, but first he needs to find her. This early in the morning, she's either in with a patient or catching up on her sleep in an on-call room. After speaking with the nurses and checking out the OR board, he knows she's not with a patient so he is heading towards the on-call room.

Most doctors could care less where they sleep as long as it involves a bed or, if they are tired enough, a stretcher will do but Cristina is different. He knows exactly which room she wants to sleep in. Burke smiles recalling how in a moment of vulnerability, Cristina confided in him that she tries to sleep in the on-call room where she'd woken him up to tell him that she wanted to be an official part of this couple. He remembers being shocked at this revelation because, as much as he loves Cristina, sentimental is not a word he would ever use to describe her which is why hearing that little secret meant so much to him. She never did tell him when it started and, after her confession, she'd swear that it was just out of habit but he knew that she had fewer habits than most.

One true habit Cristina has is her morning coffee and this morning he is armed with a fresh cup for her. Burke knows that she is not at her best first thing in the morning but she will need to wake up soon for rounds and, he is hoping that the coffee will soothe the pain of having a serious conversation so early in the morning. She's like a puzzle in how complex she seems sometimes when she is actually very simple. She doesn't even have a middle name. She really is just Cristina, his Cristina. Yawning as he approaches the

on-call room, Burke wishes he had slept better. Unless he is exhausted, he does not sleep well when Cristina's at the hospital but last night was worse than usual. It is amazing how you can get so accustomed to someone in the same way you get used to a habit. Cristina is definitely a habit that he has no intention of giving up.

Opening the door to the on-call room, he flips the light on and stands admiring the petite figure on the bed. When she is asleep she looks peaceful which is so different from how she is awake. Like her hair, Cristina is wild and unruly and most of the time he loves that about her.

Burke kneels beside her, looking at her face, thinking how happy he is that he took a chance on a crazy intern. He leans over to give her a soft kiss as he tries to ease her into the day, "Good morning."

Cristina murmurs and reaches for his hand, her eyes are still tightly shut but now there is a tiny grin on her face.

Brushing the hair away from her ear, Burke leans closer whispering her name in one of her favorite ways.

Opening her eyes, she smiles but it's not any smile. It's the smile that's reserved just for Burke and few things make him happier than seeing it. Whenever that smile is on Cristina's face, he feels reassured that she is happy with her life, their life. Burke doesn't have enough fingers to count the number of times he thought their relationship would end. He is proud of her for sticking it out when her instinct was to run and proud of himself for being patient enough to wait for what he wanted instead of pushing her away.

"I brought you coffee." Burke's voice is soft and sweet as he lifts the travel mug up so Cristina can see it even as she sits up.

"Thanks honey." Not one for surprises, Cristina loves it when Burke comes in early to see her after she's been on-call. Sometimes they have sex, sometimes they have breakfast, sometimes they take a nap before rounds. It's taken her awhile to allow herself to love him the way he loves her but now she has little doubt that he will take good care of her heart.

"Tired?"

She flops back on the bed, "That's an understatement. There were so many surgeries last night, it was fantastic but I feel like crap."

Noticing that Burke is staring at her a little bit differently than usual, she stops talking and sits up, "What?"

"Nothing." He knows he's staring and that his staring sometimes makes Cristina uncomfortable, but this morning he can't help himself.

"You're looking at me weird, like…"

"A man in love. You're beautiful."

"Burke" Cristina's voice is loving as she moves towards him until her lips meet his. In moments like this one, she has no doubts.

When their lips finally part, Cristina reaches for her coffee that Burke is still holding, "Nice cup."

"It's new. Your old one was getting banged up." Uncomfortable on the floor, Burke moves to the bed so he is sitting next to Cristina and she snuggles up against him as he puts his arm around her.

"Coffee in a shiny wrapper. I like it!" Seeing her smile when she looks up at him, he is surprised how happy she is this morning almost chipper. He has long ago accepted that as soon as he figures Cristina out, she'll throw something new at him. This is how life will be for them and he smiles, thankful, that their timing is so good this morning.

"Beep…Beep…Beep...Beep…Beep"

Hearing his pager, Burke's smile turns to frustration but Cristina, for once, is grateful that hers is silent. Cristina does notice that Burke seems disappointed as he starts to speak "I've…"

"got to go. I know, it's okay. Being a surgeon's girlfriend is all about interrupted moments." She flashes Burke another smile as she takes a sip of her coffee making it even harder for him to leave.

He kisses her one last time before getting up, "I'll find you this afternoon so we can talk."

"Talk? What do you mean talk?" Cristina dreads talking and Burke knows it.

"Later. Drink your coffee." Burke exits the room frustrated that he has to leave but confident that their talk will go well this afternoon.

What does he mean talk? That always makes Cristina nervous and she quickly runs through the list of things that he might want to talk about. They had been getting along except for that nasty fight about visiting her parents that ended with her declaring the subject closed forever, Burke had been working more than her recently so it couldn't be that but she was dragging her feet on the subject of a house. She looks suspiciously at the mug wondering if it's more than just coffee. She wouldn't put it past him to bribe her but he does have a meeting this afternoon with the Chief. Maybe Webber is retiring and Burke is going to be his replacement as Chief of Surgery, maybe that's why he's been working more hours. The beeping of her pager puts an end to her mind's rambling as it signals her that it's time to get back to work.


	2. Chapter 2

**Nurse's station – 13 hours later…**

Cristina rolls her eyes as she schleps over to the nurse's station where Alex is pretending to write up notes so he can harass the new night nurse. Her mood improves spying her shiny new coffee mug on the desk in the same spot she put it this morning. Grabbing her charts, she's grinning as she thinks how well things have been going for the two of them but the smile leaves her face as soon as she remembers about the talk. She never did see Burke again and still has no idea what he wants to talk about. The shocked looks she got while asking around about whether the Chief would be retiring soon eliminated that possibility. Normally, she would have spent the day avoiding Burke, but today was so busy she didn't need to and now she is so tired she doesn't have the energy to bother. She didn't even have time to drink the coffee he brought her.

"What's that face for? You look like I just beat you for a surgery!" Alex's nurse had to get back to work leaving him with nothing to do.

"Why can't you mind your own business?" Alex is the last thing she needs right now.

"No reason to. So what's with the look?" He prides himself on being up on all of the latest gossip at the hospital and to this day brags that he knew about her relationship with Burke before anyone else.

"None of your business. Don't you have work to do?" Glaring at Alex, Cristina sits down with the pile of charts she has to write notes on before she can go home. Paperwork is her least favorite part of being a surgeon, especially when she was scheduled to be done an hour ago.

"Actually," Alex puts his feet up before continuing, "I'm so good I finished all my work unlike some people around here. I am a free man. Too bad all that time you spent in the pit today backed you up."

"A free man, huh, well, I'm happy for you and me because now you can leave me alone and be free somewhere else."

Alex can't resist one last cocky comment as he walks away "You know you want me. Give me a call when you're tired of Burke."

"Say hi to Satan for me."

Wanting no parts of the charts in front of her, Cristina's thoughts turn to Burke. It was just like him to get her a new mug when there was absolutely nothing wrong with the old one. He's always trying to change things so quickly instead of enjoying being comfortable. It's one of the things that she understands least about him. As she starts to write up her notes, she stares at the mug wishing that there was fresh coffee in it. She would kill for a cup of coffee right now and is debating if there are really any downsides to drinking coffee that's more than 10 hours old when something about the cup catches her eye. Cocking her head, she takes a closer look.


	3. Chapter 3

**Catwalk….**

The meeting with the Chief over, Burke leans against the railing of the catwalk taking his first opportunity of the day to relax. Ironically, this is the first day in awhile that he hasn't seen Cristina. Part of him is glad that his schedule didn't leave much time to think about her, but he did feel badly because he is pretty sure that trying to figure out what he wants to talk about probably drove her crazy most of the day.

Their relationship taught him, that every now and then he needed to pause until she caught up. He waited for her a lot, thought about her a lot and made a lot of plans of how he would talk to her but things rarely went as he planned because she was unpredictable. It still makes him laugh thinking of the day she locked the door to the on-call room that first time. He definitely had not expected that. Truth was he hadn't expected any of it. His feelings for her seemed to come out of the blue. His only intent with Cristina and the whipple was to torture another intern but somehow everything changed. Their patient, Liz. noticed that his eyes were lingering on Cristina and there was a glint in them that she'd never seen before. Liz was quick to remind him that some things were worth the risk and not all of those things involved a scalpel, that there was life outside the OR. She had given him the courage to pursue Cristina, the courage to believe that he had a chance with her.

"I didn't drink the coffee this morning." Cristina's heart feels like it's going to jump out of her chest as the words shot out of her mouth too quickly. Immediately, she regrets not trying to find Meredith before she found Burke. What is she doing chasing after him anyway?

Burke raises an eyebrow, confused about why this is the first thing she's saying after not seeing him all day, "Why not?"

"I just saw the cup. I mean I saw the cup earlier with you but I didn't have time to drink the coffee because I was paged right after you left, then the Chief reamed me out because I was late for surgery because I had to change after Mr. Gilbert threw up on me. I wasn't even late, I was in the room before they were ready to go into the OR but the Chief already bumped me giving my spot to Alex. Alex and vomit! I ended up in the pit all morning until I stole a case down there for surgery which was so much better than…"

Usually, Burke finds Cristina's rambling rants amusing but not today. Today Burke is not interested in her rambling but concerned that she seems almost frantic.

"Cristina breathe."

"Right"

"Now, what are you talking about and why are you saying it so fast?"

"Right. Sorry." She moves over to where he is standing against the rail, "What I am trying to say is…," standing so close to him she is having trouble focusing so she takes a step back, "is that…I, uh, I just read the cup."

"And?" Burke is cautiously happy that she has seen the inscription on the cup but is concerned because frantic is not the reaction he was going for.

"And the initials are wrong." There she said it, that's what she needed to tell him. Why would they be wrong? Clearly he knows her initials.

Burke is disappointed at the realization that the initials on the mug are what is upsetting her. He didn't expect her to be upset, he thought she'd be happy.

"The initials are wrong," Cristina's voice sounds breathless as she repeats herself.

"No, they're right. They're not wrong." Forcing a smile, Burke's doing his best to stay hopeful that once he clears this up that Cristina will calm down.

She doesn't know what to say. They had to be wrong. Her initials are CY, no B just CY, no middle name, no B. If they're not wrong what does it mean? It couldn't possibly mean what she's thinking.

Burke hates it when he can't figure out what Cristina's thinking. Her eyes are darting back and forth because she's nervous but she's looking at him which is always a good sign.

Bracing herself against the rail, Cristina's speech is slow and deliberate, "The cup says…"

Burke finishes her sentence "CYB"

"CYB?" Her repeat of the initials is a mix of disbelief, fear and caution in a soft almost defeated tone.

Suddenly Burke understands that Cristina isn't just uncomfortable but also unwilling to admit to herself what his intentions are so he spells it out for her "Cristina Yang Burke."

Cristina hesitates not sure whether to put into words what she thinks that means knowing that there is little else it could mean. How did she get herself into this? She starts to speak twice but stops herself before finally being able to say what's running through her mind.

"You want to marry me?"

Burke listens to Cristina say those words as if she cannot comprehend their meaning. Only she would be surprised that he would want to spend the rest of his life with her. The idea made so much sense to him when he planned it.

"Yes, I want to marry you."

Burke isn't sure what to say because he never imagined that his marriage proposal would make her so unhappy. It's not a good sign but this can't possibly be a mistake. He should have talked to one of her friends before he did this.

"Seriously?" Cristina feels like she is having difficulty putting a coherent sentence together. They've talked about this, she should not be surprised.

"Seriously" Burke felt like he was doing a death march instead of proposing. It shouldn't be this hard even with her.

Burke keeps his eyes focused on Cristina as she tries to avoid his eyes by staring out the window, getting more and more nervous with each second that passes until he can no longer stand the silence.

"Cristina?"

Normally she likes the way he says her name but not this time. Overwhelmed as she tries to find the words to talk to Burke, Cristina feels her head spinning. She can neither think nor decide whether she's excited or terrified.

"Yes."

He wished that yes was to his proposal but he knew that it was just in response to calling her name. Cristina is still not looking at him and he is beginning to realize he's been kidding himself believing this would go smoothly.

"Are you going to say anything else?" This is not exactly the way Burke expected this scenario to work out. He thought that Cristina would participate in a conversation about his proposal.

She's thinking of so many different things right now. Good times, bad times. Sometimes she couldn't believe he was still with her and now he wants to marry her, the woman that drives him crazy. Burke wants to get married. She wants to smile but she can't. Right now, all she can do is concentrate on breathing.

"Well?" Burke is running out of patience.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a wife." Her mind is racing but even she can't believe that is what came out of her mouth. That's as bad as thanks for the coffee except there is no door to lock today. She is not ready for this.

Burke had prepared himself for this possibility but he isn't ready for it by any means, "You don't?"

He can't believe this is how it will end. Here on the same catwalk where he forced the issue of telling the Chief and making their relationship public. Here will be where it ends because this is not a compromise he is willing to make.

"No," her mouth is dry and she is amazed that she feels like crying. She'll never forgive Burke for what he's done to her. She never believed that her happiness could be so wrapped up in one person.

"So you're saying no." The words come out as more of a statement than a question and it is difficult to miss the shock and disappointment in Burke's voice.

"No." She hates this, hates that she cannot find her words. Forget words, all she needs to do is find one but it needs to be the right one.

Burke is looking at her completely frustrated. He loves a woman who drives him insane and, even worse, a woman who is saying no in five minutes to the proposal he spent months preparing for?

Thoughts flood Cristina's mind as she paces behind him on the catwalk. She loves him, she does. How did she let herself fall for him so quickly, so completely? She can't believe it, can't believe that she is ready to say yes. Her friends are never going to believe that she's doing this.

"No," She can't believe she just repeated herself again.

"I get it. You can stop saying 'no' now." Burke is beside himself now, staring out the huge window wishing he could go back in time and start this day without giving her the mug.

She knows her vocabulary shrinks quickly when she is under emotional stress. It's a flaw that she's never been able to overcome but this is ridiculous, even for her, so she starts laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" There is not a single thing in this situation that Burke finds amusing.

"I'm sorry." She is relieved that finally something that made sense came out of her mouth. Only she could screw up a marriage proposal.

Leaning on the rail with both arms Burke turns to look at Cristina. He doesn't need to say anything because she knows that look. His eyes are asking for her to give him a straight answer. She may not always be able to find the words but she can read almost every look.

Blinking and inhaling deeper than he's ever seen her do, Cristina steps closer to him placing both of her hands on his chest as she looks up at his face "I mean yes."

Finally hearing what he's been waiting for, Burke smiles as she reaches around his neck with both hands to kiss him. He breaks away from her kiss to pull a small box out of his pocket.

"Burke, are you sure?" Cristina's voice is calm now as she looks at him very seriously.

Without a word, Burke opens the small box to reveal a beautiful ring which he places on her shaking finger.

"I love you" He grasps her hand after the ring is in place.

"How long were you planning to wait here?"

"Until you were ready"

She can't help but look at her ring as her hand lays on his chest, "It's perfect."

"I can't wait to tell everyone."

"Why do we have to tell everyone?"

"Cristina," Burke is so excited he cannot imagine that there is anyone he will not tell about their engagement.

"I mean can't we just wait a little while." She is serious but mainly she is referring to not telling her mother yet, she wants to keep their happiness private for a little while so they can enjoy it.

Looking into her eyes, he recognizes his smile on her face and answers her with a kiss confident that Cristina is exactly what he wants.


End file.
